Practioners & Thinkers
Richard Lovelace reminds us that: “The leaders and shapers of the Reformation, the Puritan and Pietist movements, and the first two great awakenings included trained theologians who combined spiritual urgency with profound learning; men who mastered the culture of their time and were in command of the instruments needed to destroy its idols and subdue its innovations…” This was true of Luther and Calvin, Owen and Edwards, Wesley and Dwight.
However, today we tend to have an unhealthy and unbiblical divide between the practitioners of the faith and the thinkers of the faith. Nothing could be more damaging than the notion that a pastor doesn’t need to be a theologian since he is just doing “practical ministry”. Practical ministry without deep thinking makes for a shallow church. We become masters of our methods but mere novices with our message. And, of course, the opposite is likewise just as dangerous.
It is every Christian’s duty not only to practice the faith but to do so out of a deep understanding of its doctrine. As one thinker pungently put it, “If our gospel does not inspire thought, and if our theology does not inspire preaching, there is no Christianity in either.” (James Denney 1856-1917, Scottish theologian and pastor)
Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing or your minds, so that you may know what the will of the Lord is, his good, acceptable and perfect will.”
~Romans 12:1-2
